HomeMy WebLinkAboutPlanning Oct 22 2024Whatcom County
Council Planning and Development Committee
COUNTY COURTHOUSE
311 Grand Avenue, Ste #105
Bellingham, WA 98225-4038
(360) 778-5010
Committee Minutes - Final
Tuesday, October 22, 2024
12:50 PM
Hybrid Meeting - Council Chambers
HYBRID MEETING (PARTICIPATE IN -PERSON, SEE REMOTE JOIN
INSTRUCTIONS AT www.whatcomcounty.us/joinvirtualcouncil, OR CALL
360.778.5010)
COUNCILMEMBERS
Todd Donovan
Ben Elenbaas
Jon Scanlon
CLERK OF THE COUNCIL
Cathy Halka, AICP, CMC
Council Planning and Development Committee Minutes - Final
Committee
Call To Order
Roll Call
October 22, 2024
Committee member Todd Donovan called the meeting to order at 12:54
p.m. in a hybrid meeting.
Present: 2 - Todd Donovan, and Jon Scanlon
Absent: 1 - Ben Elenbaas
Also Present: Barry Buchanan, Tyler Byrd, Kaylee Galloway, and Mark Stremler
Announcements
Committee Discussion
1. AB2024-689 Discussion of a draft ordinance amending Whatcom County Code Title 20 (Zoning)
to define appropriate industrial uses and conditions for industrial uses in Heavy Impact
Industrial (HII) districts within a city's designated Urban Growth Area
Cliff Strong, Planning and Development Services Department, updated the
Councilmembers on the proposed code amendments. He stated the Planning
Commission had a difficult time with its review and were not able to make a
recommendation on the draft amendments. Instead, they passed a resolution
recommending that the Council consider a targeted moratorium potentially
excluding the waterfront HII properties until this matter can be better
addressed through the Comprehensive Plan process. So, what Council has in
their packet is draft code based on Council's excluded list, testimony from
the public and interest groups, and suggestions from the Planning and
Development Services Department and the Planning Commission.
Donovan stated he has been hearing a lot about 20.68.216 (I) in the Staff
Report regarding the potential prohibited use of Battery Energy Storage
Systems, and stated they only included that in the list because it was a
recommendation from Planning Director Personius. The other thing is in
regards to how they define bulk storage (20.68.216 (H) in the Staff Report)
so that Heidelberg Materials will be able to exist and evolve. He would like
if Council gave staff direction on what might be included in that instead of
eliminating all potential bulk storage.
Councilmembers and staff discussed using the rail structure in that Urban
Growth Area (UGA) rather than putting things on trucks, that it would make
sense to allow some uses for battery energy storage as the market is moving
toward electrification while making sure the megawatt level is reasonable,
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Council Planning and Development Committee Minutes - Final October 22, 2024
Committee
whether they should give direction to staff to eliminate subsections H and L
as prohibited uses, what the original concerns were that prompted the
consideration of having bulk commodity storage on the prohibited list, fire
dangers in battery energy storage systems and checking with the industry
partners to make sure 20 megawatts is reasonable, whether existing
businesses that have some kind of commodity storage or transshipment
facility would be able to continue under this draft code and expand under
nonconforming rules, the history behind why these code changes are being
considered and why they are being considered outside of the
Comprehensive Plan process, addressing air quality in the UGA and whether
it is safe for people who live in that community, whether land use policy is
the appropriate tool to regulate air quality, whether they can start planning
now for other residential areas that might get butted up to industrial zones
to shift and create buffers before that ends up happening, and continuing this
discussion with other suggestions.
Donovan moved that staff give Council some different options on
(proposed Whatcom County Code 20.68.216) item H in terms of the bulk
commodity storage, in particular, with reference to the letter they got from
Heidelberg, and that they get some more information on item L in terms of
what 20 megawatts means for battery storage.
Scanlon stated he would like to hear from the Fire Marshall on best practice
for battery energy storage, especially given the lack of buffers in this
neighborhood, and whether the County's existing policy on battery energy
storage is sufficient for that neighborhood.
Byrd stated he would like more information on options for buffers that they
may be able to utilize.
Strong stated these code changes are just for within the Bellingham UGA.
The motion carried by the following vote:
Aye: 3 - Elenbaas, Scanlon, and Donovan
Nay: 0
This agenda item was DISCUSSED AND MOTION(S) APPROVED.
Motion approved that staff give Council some different options on (proposed Whatcom County Code 20.68.216)
item H in terms of the bulk commodity storage, in particular, with reference to the letter they got from Heidelberg, anc
that they get some more information on item L in terms of what 20 megawatts means for battery storage.
2. AB2024-694 Discussion of proposed amendments to WCC Titles 20 and 22 to enact SSB 5290
regarding local project review
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Council Planning and Development Committee Minutes - Final October 22, 2024
Committee
Amy Keenan, Planning and Development Services Department, read from a
presentation (on file). She spoke about concerns that have been raised to
Councilmembers and Planning staff regarding doing a critical area review
prior to the land use/permitting review process as it pertains to onsite
sewage inspections. She stated they are happy to work with the onsite
sewage community and ultimately want the process to go as smoothly as
possible.
Elenbaas stated his concern is that the permit process will get to a certain
amount of days and the Planning Department will deny the permit because
they did not get to a "yes." He stated it would be better to say that Planning
has 100 days to deny and after that, the answer is yes. He asked if an
applicant can waive the time frame if it would help them get to a "yes."
Cliff Strong, Planning and Development Services Department, stated there
is a way to suspend the application process.
Elenbaas spoke about inequity in the process and stated the people with the
most money get the best results.
Strong answered whether there will be additional updates to Exhibit A of the
ordinance since the Shoreline Management Program (SMP) has been
approved and whether the SMP update made changes to the wetland setbacks
when Council was told that it would not.
Scanlon stated he would be happy to work on code language for the issue of
equity.
Elenbaas stated he would like the onus taken off of Planning staff for
determining what would need expensive measures to prove that they are
wrong.
This agenda item was PRESENTED AND DISCUSSED.
Items Added by Revision
Other Business
Adjournment
There were no agenda items added by revision.
There was no other business.
The meeting adjourned at 1:54 p.m.
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Council Planning and Development Committee Minutes - Final
Committee
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Cathy Halka, Cound I Vlerk
Kristi Felbinger, Minutes Transcription
October 22, 2024
WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL
WHATCOM COUNTY, WA
Ben Elenbaas-via email 11/2/2024
Ben Elenbaas, Committee Chair
Whotrom County page 4